The Proletariat Congress

How sad it is that in a western democracy, where we have a wealth of knowledge at our finger tips; the ability to request and receive information that people are so woefully ignorant of the system that governs us. Over the last few days, this sad truth and reality has reared itself because of Harper’s inability to reconcile with the fact that he has proven to be out of touch with ordinary Canadians; out of touch with 62% of voters – a clear majority for the coalition, and for those who lack math comprehension skills, that’s more than half. Never mind all those who are unable to vote, such as the youth population who may very well en masse disagree with his arrogance and destructive policies.

Harper had many chances to work with the opposition. He had been given a minority mandate. Not every voter supported him. He lacked the necessary support he needed for a majority mandate – also known by those who don’t like whatever party is in chage, a blank cheque for mayhem. He had ample chance to put partisan politics aside and work with the other parties, but instead invoked fear-politics and is painting the opposition as a force that’s out to destroy Canada and usurp the House of Commons through a coup.

The same leader who claims to know what’s right for Canada is lying to the people of the nation. How utterly dishonourable even for a politician. His one of his lies is that the three leaders who signed a pact didn’t do so in front of a Canadian flag.

Liberals, NDP and Bloc sign coalition pact

In the link above, there is a video that was taken by CP – Canada Press – and it clearly shows at least one Canadian flag behind the three leaders. In the segments that follow, in which Dion and Layton speak, in the background are provincial flags. Lie debunked.

Harper ‘lies’ about coalition details: Broadbent

Other lies include that the Bloc was promised 6 senate seats in exchange for their role in the coalition. The Bloc is merely serving as a supporting element and had not been given a significant role. The cabinet that would come out of this is one made up of Liberal and NDP MPs.

1. Partners: Liberal-NDP government led by Stéphane Dion. 24-member cabinet, six from NDP. Liberal finance minister. Deal runs until July 2011.

2. The Bloc: Government to be backed by Bloc Québécois on confidence motions until July 2010. No Bloc role in cabinet.

3. Deficits: Measures to aid economy provided over two years; budget deficits likely. Surpluses return within four years.

4. Economic stimulus: Accelerated spending on infrastructure; money for cities and provinces; aid for auto, forestry and manufacturing; incentives to build and retrofit housing. Corporate tax cuts go ahead.

5. Economic policy: Better skills training; income support for older workers; improved Employment Insurance; mandatory RRIF withdrawal cut by 50 per cent this year; bankruptcy law reform to protect pensions.

6. Other: Reverse Tory cuts to arts; pursue North American `cap-and-trade’ market on greenhouse-gas emissions.

If the number of MPs in the cabinet were to be increased, it would be done proportionately, so that if there was an increase, both parties would be given a chance to put in more members.

The honesty displayed here is a refreshing change. The fact that the coalition is saying that there will be deficits for a few years before we return to surpluses is a fair assessment. The same coalition is working to do what other nations have done, which is try and boost the economy. Harper would rather sit on his hands and do squat. Hell, anyone could.

The money being invested in infrastructure will allow for jobs to be created; money to the cities would do wonders. Imagine an upgraded transit system in Toronto. Our subway system could be expanded to meet the growing demand. More people would want to ride because it wouldn’t be so limited. It would give other cities the same chance to expand their transit systems. A move that would benefit the environment.

Harper has offered Canadians nothing. The coalition is offering us something, and frankly, I am happy to accept their offer. Even if the Bloc is part of this, it doesn’t matter to me. They’ve put partisan politics aside and have shown they can work together.

There is of course historical precedent in Canada to support this, in addition to constitutional provisions permitting this.

Historically, the first real coalition, besides the 1864-67, known as the Great Coalition, which lead to the BNA Act of 1867 and the birth of Canada, there was a coalition that lasted from 1917-1920. It was led by Prime Minister Robert Borden, who introduced the very unpopular conscription mandate, and in order to enforce it, brought in supporters from the Liberal and independent ranks. This served to strengthen his base.

Another notable attempt comes out of the King-Byng affair. The elected government of Meighan didn’t have enough votes to govern, nor did the Liberals with King leading them. Both sought support from a smaller party, and King got it, only to lose the confidence of the house over the customs scandal. When he asked the Governor General, he was refused and the Tories formed a government, only to a few days later be defeated in a no confidence motion. The Governor General had been forced to call a general election. King then won the election and formed a government with the support of the progressives.

This kind of governing has been done at the provincial level as well. In British Columbia from 1941-1951, the province was governed by a Conservative-Liberal coalition. A similar type of arrangement was made in Ontario during the 80s (85-87) between the Liberals and the NDP (Miller and Rae – who is now running for leadership of the Liberal Party).

There is plenty of precedent on the book. It’s plenty legal and very constitutional. The only people who are squawking about “ethics” are those who don’t want to see anyone but the Tories and their weak policies governing Canada.

Governor General Jean is back and is due to make an announcement. With precedent on her side and so little time following an election, the only sensible thing would be to force Harper out. He is refusing to do his job. Let someone else do it.

EDIT (December 4, 2008) – I found a fully copy of the: “A Policy Accord to Address the Present Economic Crisis“. Click on the link to read a copy of it. It’s a pdf file.

Here are a few selected, scathing words from “Prime Minister” Harper describing the coalition…

UNDEMOCRATIC!

It seems very democratic to me. But then, what would I know about democracy, I’m just a person who happened to vote in the last election; I’m a member of the NDP. I periodically bitch about the government in my blog. I guess I just don’t know what democratic is then… because if this isn’t a democracy then what is?

AN ATTACK ON CANADA!

Beware! It’s an attack on… hold on, what exactly? How is it an attach on Canada when it’s politically parties working TOGETHER! Oh dear god, no! The world is ending! Politicians are not engaging in petty partisan politics! They’re working to give Canada something other than more of the same!  I think I’m going to faint…

FUNDAMENTALLY NOT WHAT PEOPLE VOTE FOR!

So, I didn’t vote for this? So, tell me, Stevie, what did I vote for if I didn’t vote for this? Wait, if my memory serves correctly, I voted for the NDP on October 14th 2008. So, in theory, I did vote for this. As did 66% of the other voters who voted for the NDP, Liberals and Bloc. What world is he living in if he thinks that this isn’t what I voted for? The audacity of this man; as he if can speak for me. I’m a woman, and I don’t need some fundamentalist nutbar speaking for me; I have my own voice, and right now it’s in the form of a blog.

Moving on… I’ve been reading the asinine comments posted on the Star and CBC websites. I’m very disappointed in my fellow Canucks. I cannot honestly believe the stupidity that permeates from every pore.  Some fo these people are no better than sheep, buying the government’s propaganda hook like and sinker. Of course, they don’t see it as propaganda; not when it’s what you’ve been trained to hear.

You know who else was right wing, like the Conservatives, and specialised in propaganda? Joseph Goebbels.  A man who once said, “It is not propaganda’s task to be intelligent, its task is to lead to success.”

People can scream “Godwin’s Law” until they are blue in the face, but, evidence suggests that perhaps I’m not far off in my comparison. This headline was found in the Toronto Star: Tories launch anti-coalition ad-blitz. Could it be? An attempt to discredit the opposition’s pact? No. It couldn’t. Then again, this is the same party who brought us such lovely joys as their plethora of mailbox spam – I’m sure you all you got your fair share of Tory propoganda pamphlets in your mail boxes; you know, the ones with the check marks and highly partisan options. Or perhaps you can recall the scathing series of television ads that were aired for a while? You know, the ad campaign that was run by the Tories BEFORE any mention of a general federal election. But most people won’t; your average Joe-six pack Canadian has the attention span of a gold fish. What enrages him one day will be forgotten the next as something else shiney floats by.

I seem to have veered off topic, so I shall return to my main point, which is: I for one welcome this coalition. Imagine, a government that doesn’t resort to petty partisan politics and actually gets the job done. After all, the opposition could have triggered a no confidence vote and taken Canada back to the polls and squandered another 300 million on an election. Instead, they did the more democratic thing. There is a minority government and the opposition had more of the vote. They have decided to form the government with Dion at the helm. Go on, Governor General Jean, sign it! Sign the pact; make the coaliation our government. We don’t need another costly election. Let’s see what the opposition can do.

Well, I know one thing they can do – govern willingly!

‘There’s no turning back’

Today while browsing through the barely mediocre selection of used video games at the EB Games found at the Fairview mall where my husband and I stopped in search of lunch, I ran across this game. Curious, I picked it upm thinking it could be interesting. It had the appearance of a point and click adventure game. So, I thought, “let’s see what the summary says”.

I flipped it over and began to read the woefully short English description. I paused suddenly, doing a double take. Did my eyes deceive me or did I see an error? Not just any error but an error that would change the entire meaning of the sentence? Eagerly I re-read the description and proved my suspicions. Here we have a game that had been shipped out to North America retailers from Europe, and the editors couldn’t even take the time to polish the box.

Indeed, there proved to be an error in the text of the box I picked up. The sentence that stuck out in my head was this: Become Nicole Bonnet, a young female FBI agent and except the challenge. I’m sure you can see the obvious error in this one. It would be easy to miss unless you are used to reading English a certain way.

After seeing it, I took out my Razr and tried vainly (yeah, it was futile) to take what would have inevitably been a blurry picture of the text on the back of the box. Alas, it was made of failure and as such, the end was result was no true photographic evidence. I searched, upon returning to my apartment in utter vain to find a picture of said box. My efforts were in pure futility, as I found the correct version. But, I can still remember the version I saw and unlike the one i found online, this one had small paragraphs written in a yellow serif font in two distinct paragraphs on the back.

Of course, it’s bound to be errors that will be missed when the team writing the descriptions doesn’t speak the language that the game is bound to wind up in.

As an aside, I’d like to add that one of the suggested titles for this post was “Confessions of a Grammar Nazi”. I decided not to go that route… though my husband seemed to think it would have been fitting.

Ironic, a song written by Alanis Morisette is not the definition of perfect irony. It merely illustrates a series of events and coincidences that have nothing to do with irony. If the song had been about irony, it would have focused on the one true ironic thing that most people face on the road every single day. Speed Limits.

I pick speed limit as the perfect example of irony because when you’re driving, regardless of your vehicle, you’re expected to go faster than the speed limit yet you are ticketed if you go over. If you drive slowly, people will invariably honk at you and if you go too slow the police will ticket you for driving too slow yet you’re expected to drive under the limit in the eyes of the law and above it in the eyes of the average driver on the road.

What’s your definition of perfect irony?